81R4407 DRH-D
By: Miller of Erath H.B. No. 835
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring a candidate for public office to provide
proof of citizenship.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 141.031(a), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A candidate's application for a place on the ballot that
is required by this code must:
(1) be in writing;
(2) be signed and sworn to by the candidate and
indicate the date that the candidate swears to the application;
(3) be timely filed with the appropriate authority;
and
(4) include:
(A) the candidate's name;
(B) the candidate's occupation;
(C) the office sought, including any place number
or other distinguishing number;
(D) an indication of whether the office sought is
to be filled for a full or unexpired term if the office sought and
another office to be voted on have the same title but do not have
place numbers or other distinguishing numbers;
(E) a statement that the candidate is a United
States citizen;
(F) a statement that the candidate has not been
determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate
jurisdiction to be:
(i) totally mentally incapacitated; or
(ii) partially mentally incapacitated
without the right to vote;
(G) a statement that the candidate has not been
finally convicted of a felony from which the candidate has not been
pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disabilities;
(H) the candidate's date of birth;
(I) the candidate's residence address or, if the
residence has no address, the address at which the candidate
receives mail and a concise description of the location of the
candidate's residence;
(J) the candidate's length of continuous
residence in the state and in the territory from which the office
sought is elected as of the date the candidate swears to the
application;
(K) the statement: "I, __________, of
__________ County, Texas, being a candidate for the office of
__________, swear that I will support and defend the constitution
and laws of the United States and of the State of Texas"; [and]
(L) a statement that the candidate is aware of
the nepotism law, Chapter 573, Government Code; and
(M) proof of the candidate's United States
citizenship through a certified copy of a birth certificate or
other document that establishes citizenship in a form prescribed by
the secretary of state.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a candidate's application for a place on the ballot that is filed
on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.